Nature’s Balancing Act

Balance is everything in Nature and the consequences of imbalances can be quite severe at times. Nature does not fool around.

As an example, our bodies perform an intricate balancing act with salts and other minerals (like sodium, potassium, and calcium) in our normal physiology. The ability of muscles and nerves to function is based on these elements being present in certain percentages. Vary any of these proportions too much and the body fails.

Dying as a result of too much or too little salt seems like a pretty harsh consequence but that is how Nature rolls.

Chicken or the Egg?

Medical school had me memorize loads of numbers that science uses to define a living organism. While many of those numbers are tantalizingly out of my grasp these days without pulling down a reference book, the concepts that those numbers represent are all around.

The human body performs a high-wire balancing act called Health. As complicated as it may seem, many of the functions work very simply. They do just one thing. 

Yep. A simple on or off.

One part of the body makes something happen and another part stops that first action from happening. 

Think of being short of breath. The body senses low oxygen and automatically has us breathe deeply. The oxygen shortage stops and the urge to breathe deeply also subsides.

On or off.

Nature’s Opposites

Even on a larger scale, this mechanism of either “on” or “off” continues to work. When our body works efficiently, even in a hostile environment, we are fully capable of keeping things working. That is, we are healthy.

This process goes by the name homeostasis where a well-functioning body is capable of fending off most threats. The world around us is populated with poisons and organisms that, if given the opportunity, can harm the functioning of our body. 

How do we stay healthy then?

What keeps us going are natural defenses that are built into our bodies. 

Antibodies and other immune system mechanisms that directly address any viruses or bacteria that may make their way past physical barriers like skin. Getting too warm? We dissipate excess heat via sweating. Too cold? We shiver to generate needed heat.

For most any challenge, Nature’s design of our physiology likely has a solution.

Balancing Those Forces

For Health, the battle is one of balancing the strength of our body against threatening elements in our environments. 

This is an intricate dance between two very powerful entities. They both struggle and the hoped-for outcome is a tie in which the body’s vitality keeps going while holding hostile forces at bay.

To balance these rivals (i.e. staying healthy), we can strengthen our natural defenses and/or address some of the threats from outside. I like to focus on managing both of them. 

First, support the vitality of the body. Disease needs a willing host, so if the body stays strong, sickness is less likely to win out. Eat nutritious food, be active, stay hydrated, and sleep well.

Second, reduce the challenges posed by the environment. Modern sanitation has managed to improve the health of residents by removing the sources of many diseases. A clean environment, along with a well-tended body,  goes a long way to helping our Health.

The Doom and Gloom Group

We cannot seem to go anywhere these days without someone emphasizing the negative. 

The threats from the foods we eat, beverages we drink, the air we breathe, are always on parade in the media. This week carbohydrates are excellent for health, next week, carbs are connected to increasing the risk of developing a disease and should be eliminated from your diet. 

Oh my.

Scientific study is always full of conflicting information. It is the media that has a problem in messaging the nature of those reports.

What to do?

Critically examine what we use and consume. Question whether a particular product produces a problem or whether our body is struggling to respond. Are carbohydrates the problem or is it that our body is having a tough time digesting them?

Leave the doom and gloom behind and use a skeptical mind. If the topic in question is the problem, address it. If it is a matter of boosting our body’s efforts to manage the challenge, support the body.

Be proactive with your Health.

“Remind yourself that you can take neither the full credit nor blame for the outcomes in your life. There is always a factor of randomness involved. However, you should try your best, be proactive, and strive toward having a sense of control in life.”
― F. R. Amoeno